A blog about Wirral Council, Wirral Council's councillors & officers
A blog about Wirral Council's public meetings, Wirral Council's councillors, Bidston & St. James ward and other public bodies on Merseyside
Wirral Council’s Cabinet expected to recommend 5.99% council tax rise for 2018-19
The author’s wife has a liability for council tax for 2018-19 for a property on the Wirral, so I declare that as a financial interest in the below piece.
I would like to also thank the Bureau of Investigative Journalists (BIJ) for their help in the area of council budgets and this piece.
Continue reading “Wirral Council’s Cabinet expected to recommend 5.99% council tax rise for 2018-19”
Are Wirral Council councillors trying to restrict the filming of public meetings again?
I’ll declare at the outset that I regularly film public meetings of Wirral Council.
Wirral Council’s Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee next meets on the 27th February 2018 starting at 4.00 pm in Committee Room 3 at Wallasey Town Hall.
Item 5 on the agenda is a proposed revised “Protocol for the Filming of public meetings”. Although most of the changes relate to Wirral Council filming meetings public itself, there are changes proposed to policy that are in relation to others filming public meetings at Wirral Council.
The planned changes involve each time Wirral Council films the meeting that the Chair states at the start, “I would like to remind everyone present that this meeting will be broadcast live to the internet and will be capable of repeated viewing.”, as well as signs up inside and outside the meeting room for the public meeting stating,
Please note: this meeting may be filmed for live or subsequent broadcast via the internet – at the start of the meeting the Civic Mayor / Chair will confirm if all or part of the meeting is being filmed. You should be aware that the Council is a Data Controller under the Data Protection Act. Data collected during this webcast will be retained in accordance with the Council’s published policy. Public seating areas will not be filmed by the council. Contact Officer: Civic and Committee Services Manager – 0151 6918559”
The changes proposed to be added to the public filming the meeting include, “A designated area shall be set aside for members of the press/public who wish to film or secure a sound recording of the Council’s public meetings. Any disruptive behaviour or distractions will result in the person(s) being asked to leave the meeting.
So does this mean I can’t clap, smile, frown, sneeze, cough, change batteries, zoom or pan as this may be deemed a “distraction” and I’ll be possibly asked to leave before I even had time to turn off the camera? And if I answer no thank you, would that be used as further evidence of a distraction and then I’d be forced to leave?
If one person filming a meeting is classed as distracting, then councillors and officers need to learn to concentrate better without getting distracted by distractions!
As if to prove my point, here is their sample text for agendas!
Everyone is welcome to record meetings of the Council and its Committees using whatever, non-disruptive, methods you think are suitable. If you have any questions about this please contact Democratic Services (members of the press please contact the Press Office). Please note that the Chair of the meeting has the discretion to halt any recording for a number of reasons including disruption caused by the filming or the nature of the business being conducted. Persons making recordings are requested not to put undue restrictions on the material produced so that it can be reused and edited by all local people and organisations on a non-commercial basis.“
Wirral Council hasn’t consulted with myself on the proposed changes to its filming policy. The Chair can stop Wirral Council filming if he or she wishes, but if the meeting is open to the public they have no legal powers to stop filming and would just rely on goodwill!
If you ’d like to express your views on this proposed policy before the Standards and Constitutional Committee meets on the 27th February 2018, email contact details for the 9 councillors who are on it are below.
Cllr Moira McLaughlin (Chair) moiramclaughlin@wirral.gov.uk
Cllr Paul Stuart (Vice-Chair) paulstuart@wirral.gov.uk
Cllr Ron Abbey ronabbey@wirral.gov.uk
Cllr Bill Davies billdavies@wirral.gov.uk
Cllr Brian Kenny briankenny@wirral.gov.uk
Cllr Chris Blakeley (Conservative spokesperson) chrisblakeley@wirral.gov.uk
Cllr Gerry Ellis gerryellis@wirral.gov.uk
Cllr John Hale johnhale@wirral.gov.uk
Cllr Phil Gilchrist (Liberal Democrat spokesperson) philgilchrist@wirral.gov.uk
What’s in Wirral Council’s 96 page Hoylake Golf Resort contract?
Continuing from yesterday’s post about the cancelled hearing, I’d better once again state I was the person who made the information request.
Here however is a brief chronology of what has happened so far.
12th December 2016 – EIR request made to Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council by myself for 122 pages of information. Continue reading “What’s in Wirral Council’s 96 page Hoylake Golf Resort contract?”
Councillors on Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority face decision on 2.99% council tax increase proposal
The eighteen councillors on the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority will be meeting in public on Thursday 22nd February (starting at 1.00 pm) in the Liverpool Suite, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Headquarters, Bridle Road, Bootle, L30 4YD to decide on a proposed 2.99% increase to council tax from 2018-19 (starting from the 1st April 2018).
Continue reading “Councillors on Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority face decision on 2.99% council tax increase proposal”
Two day hearing about Hoylake Golf Resort contract information request cancelled
Updated 14.2.18 with further clarification. The matter was listed on the 14.2.18 for a 15 minute telephone conference between parties and the judiciary.
Although I’m not a party in this matter (the parties are Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council (Appellant) and ICO (First Respondent), I was the person who made the original EIR request on the 12th December 2016.
The two-day open hearing for appeal EA/2017/0191 (Wirral Council’s appeal of ICO decision notice FER0672223 that was listed for the 13th & 14th February 2018 both days starting at 10:00 am at the Liverpool Civil and Family Court, 3rd Floor, 35 Vernon Street, Liverpool, L2 2BX has been cancelled.
Unfortunately I only received notice of this change this morning by email at 10:53.
As this matter has not yet reached a final decision and is still considered active, comments are turned off on this post for legal reasons.
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